Seagal is more knowledgeable about fighting than people give him credit for.
I don't think Anderson Silva's knockout of Belfort , and Lyoto Machida's KO of Randy Couture are coincidental. They both credited Seagal for helping them utilize the kick and incorporating other traditional martial arts techniques into their arsenal. Karate kid or not those techniques happened to work in mixed martial arts when opponents aren't expecting them. Anderson and Machida were at their best when training with Seagal.
I'm not in the least a fan of the guy since I think he's more of a sayer and less a doer when it comes to fighting, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have good ideas and creative techniques for other fighters. He is also a fucking weirdo.